Fare box and register



(No Model.) 2Sheets-Sheet 1.

P. B. WAGNER & E. L. KRAMER FARE BOX AND REGISTER.

No. 537,090. Patented Apr. 9, 1895.

FIG-I- (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

I. B. WAGNER 8:? E. L. KRAMER.

FARE BOX AND REGISTER.

No. 537,090. PatentedApr. 9, 1895.

FIE-RSI Jityi EINITED STATES PATENT FFIQE.

FRANK B. WAGNER AND EDWIN L. KRAMER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

FARE BOX AND REGISTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 537,090, dated April 9,1895.

Application filed April 23, 1894:. Serial No, 508,563. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK B.WAeNER and EDWIN L. KRAMER, citizens of theUnited States, and residents of Cleveland, county of Ouyahoga, and Stateof Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fare Boxesand Registers, of which the following is a specification, the principleof the invention being herein explained and the best mode in which wehave contemplated applying that principle, so as to distinguish it fromother inventions.

The annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detail,one mechanical form embodying the invention; such detail constructionbeing but one of various mechanical forms in which the principle of theinvention may be used.

In said annexed drawings-Figure I represents a side view of our improvedfare box and register, showing one side of the casing removed toillustrate the operating mechanism; Figs. II and III, side views of thedevice from opposite sides; Fig. IV, a side view of a fare box andregister, showing one side of the casing removed to disclose a slightlydifferent form of operating mechanism; Fig. V, an end view of thedevice; Fig. VI, a view of the closure for the end of the farereceptacle; Fig.VII, a transverse section of said receptacle andclosure, and Fig. VIII, a view of the key for turning and removing theclosure.

The casing of the device consists of a cylindrical fare receptacle, A,and a casing, A, within which the operating mechanism is confined,-saidcasing having flat sides and being substantially square in outline, witha considerably rounded lower forward corner, and a slightly roundedupper rear corner. The fare receptacle projects from the rear side ofsaid flat casing, at the lower corner of the same, so that .saidreceptacle may serve as a handle, by which the device may be held. Aflat change funnel, a, is secured in the upper side of the casing, toform the fare slot, and the lower end of the spout of said flat funnelis out ofi obliquely and closed by a pivoted gate, B. The spout of thefunnel extends into a curved fare channel, A which extends to the farereceptacle and communicates with the same. The spout of the changefunnel projects sufficiently below the top of the casing to render itdifficult, if not almost impossible, to work coins out of the farechannel, through the spout and funnel, by inverting the casing. Anothergate, B is hinged to intersect the fare channel, at the lower end of thevertical portion of the same. Windows, a, are provided in the sides ofthe casing, to admit of inspection of the contents of the fare channelin that portion thereof which lies between the two gates. A thumb lever,O, is fulcrumed in the rear side of the flat casing, so as to have onearm, provided with a thumb piece, 0, to project from the fare receptaclein suitable position to be depressed by the thumb or a finger of thehand which clasps the fare receptacle. The inner end of the thumb leveris formed with an upwardly curved nose piece, 0', which engages adownwardly curved nose piece, 01, upon a tumbler, D, which is pivotedwithin the casing. A spring, (1, is secured to the casing and to thetumbler, so as to draw the nose piece of the tumbler against the nosepiece of the thumb lever. A curved pawl, d is pivoted upon the tumbler,and has a spring, (1 bearing against its upper arm, and serving toretain it in its normal position, when the upper arm bears against apin, d", which 1s opposed to the spring and stops the pawl in its normalposition. The free lower end of the pawl bears against an inclinedprojection, 6, upon the upper edge of a lever, E, fulcrumed at one endin the casing The inclined projection terminates in an abrupt shoulderat the highest point of its incline, and the pawl may slip off from theincline when it arrives at said shoulder, so as to allow the lever to beagain raised by a spring, 6, which holds the lever against the pawl,after the lever has been depressed by the action of the pawl upon theincline, by the tumbler having been rocked by means of the thumb lever.A pawl, 6 is pivoted upon the shouldered lever E, and engages a ratchetwheel, F, upon the unit shaft of an ordinary register, F, of anysuitable or desired construc tion. A spring, 6 bears against the pawl 6and is secured to the casing of the register. A pawl, f, engages theratchet wheel upon the unit shaft of the register, to prevent theregist'er from slipping backward, and said pawl has a spring,f', bearingagainst it and forcin g it into engagement with the ratchet wheel.

A spring arm, 6 is secured to the lever E, and carries a hammer, e,which may strike a gong, G, when the lever is released from thedepressing action of the pawl. An arm, e, ex- 5 tends from the end ofthe lever E, to a slotted guide, Z), upon the inner gate B which guideis engaged by a pin upon the arm, so that the gate may be opened by thedepression of the lever. A lever, H, is pivoted in the casing, above thetumbler, and has a lug, 7t, projecting laterally from its inner arm, tobe engaged by the inner arm of the thumb lever. The outer and longer armof the lever is formed with a slot, h, at its end, and said slot engagesa pin, 1), which projects from the gate B, at the spout of the changefunnel. A spring 7L2, is secured to the casing and to the long arm ofthe lever ll, so as to raise said lever arm and close the upper gate.The dial :0 of the register appears at the side of the easing oppositeto the operating'mechanism, and is preferably covered by a pane,f ofglass. The register may be of any suitable construction, and may beprovided with index hands and dials, indicating and registering anydesired number. The end of the fare receptacle is closed by means of acylindrical cap, J, which fits into the end of the fare receptacle. Thecap is formed with a bayonet. slot, j, into which a stud a upon theinner side of the fare receptacle may be engaged,the bayonet slot beingopen at its inner end. A radially movable spring bolt-,j, slides in ahole in the flange of the cap, and may engage a hole, a 5 inthe farereceptacle, when the cap is fitted in place to close the end of the farereceptacle. The head of the cap has two holes, 7' which may be engagedby the hooked ends it, of a key, K, by means of which the cap may beturned and withdrawn from the end of the fare receptacle. A casing, a,-is formed upon the outside of the fare receptacle, and has a recess, awhich surrounds the hole a and may be filled with sealing wax, so as toseal 5 the spring bolt j, and prevent its withdrawal without breakingthe seal. A slide, a, covers the recess in the casing and preventsaccidental injury to the seal. The rear side of the change funnel has anotch, a', which permits inspection of the coin deposited in the funnel,when such coin is smaller than the coin for which the device isprincipally intended.

In Fig.1V is illustrated a modified form of the operating mechanism. Thethumb lever and tumbler are substantially the same as in the abovedescribed form, but, instead of having the pawl, which operates theratchet wheel upon the unit shaft of the registering 6o mechanism, uponthe inner gate operating lever E, the pawl is pivoted upon the thumblever. The inner gate operating lever has the same shouldered incline e,as the first described lcver; but, instead of having its outer endengaging a slotted guide upon the inner gate, it has a slot, 6 at itsupper end which engages a pin upon an arm,b ,projecting upward from theinner gate. The forwardly projecting arm of the tumbler, to which thespring 01, which raises the tumbler,-is secured, has a lateral stud, (Zwhich may engage one arm of a bell crank lever, Z, which is pivoted atits end, and has an arm, Z, pivoted to its upper bend. The outer end ofsaid arm is pivoted to an arm, 0 which projects from the shaft of theouter gate.

This fare box and register is principally intended for use upon streetrailways, although, of course, it may be used, with or withoutalterations, as a receptacle and register for coins, tickets or othertokens of value, wherever the collection of such coins or tokens, andthe registration of such collection, are desired.

The device is intended to receive the exact fare, and the conductor orother person operating the device, will be required to make such changefor the passengers, that only the fare, or multiples of the same, willbe deposited into the receptacle.

The device may easily be held in the hand and presented to thepassenger, who deposits the fare into the funnel of the casing. Thenotch in the funnel will allow the conductor to inspect the depositedfare, if the latter is a coin of smaller size than the coin whichrepresents a single fare, so that, for example, it the fare is fivecents, and the device is made of a size to allow a five cent nickel cointo be clearly seen in the funnel, as it rests against the outer gate,without the additional view afforded through the notch, a ten centsilver coin (a dime) may easily be seen through the notch, althoughotherwise hidden in the funnel. When the fare is deposited in thefunnel, the thumb lever is depressed. This first causes the tumbler torock and to depress the inner gate operating lever, whereby the innergate is opened and the fare, previously deposited, allowed to drop intothe fare receptacle. After the spring pawl upon the tu n1- bler haspassed over the highest point of the incline upon the lever, the leverwill be drawn up and again close the inner gate. pression of the innergate operating lever rotates the ratchet wheel upon the unit shaft ofthe register one space, so that the fare received is registered beforeit is dropped through the outer gate,thus making a record of the receiptof a fare, even though the fare might be taken out of the change funnel.The recoil of the inner gate operating lever will strike the gong, so asto call attention to the registration of a fare. As the pawl upon thetumbler slips off from the incline upon the inner gate operating lever,the inner arm of the thumb lever engages the inner arm of the outer gateoperating lever, causing the latter to open the outer gate and to thusdrop the fare in the funnel into the vertical portion of the farechannel. After the register has been operated, the inner gate has beenclosed, and the gong has been sounded, the outer gate may be held openas long as The de pressure is retained upon the thumb lever, so that afare in coins of smaller denomination, such as copper cents, or aticket, may be deposited without requiring the register to be actuatedmore than once. The windows in the sides of the vertical portion of thefare channel admit of the inspection of the fare admitted through theouter gate, before such fare is admitted into the fare receptacle. Ifmore than one fare is admitted through the outer gate, and one fare,only, is registered by the conductor, the additional fare or fares willyet be within the receptacle, accessible, only, to the person authorizedto open the receptacle.

When the device is returned to the proper person for opening andwithdrawal of fares, such person can inspect the seal and see whether itis intact or not. The seal may then be broken and the spring bolt pushedback, when the cap which closes the fare receptacle may be drawn out,turned and removed, and the fares within the receptacle emptied out ofthe same. After the fares have been taken out of the receptacle, the capmay again be replaced, and another seal placed in the recess around thespring bolt.

The device being intended to receive the eXact amount of fare or fares,the conductor or other fare collector will have no opportunity toindividually handle other money than what he must carry to make theproper change.

Fares cannot be admitted into the receptacle without registering eachopening of the inner gate, andif more than one fare is admitted into thereceptacle with one registration, the amount admitted will be within thereceptacle and cannot be abstracted; but will simply cause a largeramount to be within the receptacle than indicated by the register.

Other modes of applying theprinciple of our invention may be employedfor the mode herein explained. Change may therefore be made as regardsthe mechanism thus disclosed, provided the principles of constructionset forth respectively in the following claims are employed.

7e therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as ourinvention- 1. In a fare box and register, the combination of a farechannel, a fare receptacle at the inner end of said channel, a normallyclosed gate in the outer portion of the channel, a normally closed gatein the inner portion of the channel, and means connected to said gatesand constructed to first open the inner gate and thereupon open theouter gate, substantially as set forth.

2. In a fare box and register, the combination of a fare channel, a farereceptacle at the inner end of said channel, a normally closed gate inthe outer portion of the channel, a nor mally closed gate in the innerportion of the channel, a register, and means connected to said gatesand register and constructed to first open the inner gate and actuatethe register and thereupon open the outer gate, substantially as setforth.

3. In a fare box and register, the combination of a fare channel, a farespout having its end projecting into said channel, an outer gate havingmeans for normallv'holding it against the end of said spout to close thesame, a fare receptacle at the inner end of the fare channel, an innergate having means for normally holding it to close the entrance to thefare receptacle, and a thumb lever having connecting means to first openthe inner gate and thereupon the outer gate when actuated, substantiallyas set forth.

at. The combination of a fare receptacle having an open end and a recessin itsside near said open end formed with a hole through the side of thereceptacle, a cap fitting into the open end of the receptacle, a springbolt in said cap engaging the hole in the recess, and a destructibleseal in the recess, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of a fare receptacle having a cylindrical open endand a recess in the side of said cylindrical open end formed with a holethrough the side of the receptacle, a cap fitting into the cylindricalopen'end of the receptacle, a spring bolt projecting through the hole inthe recess'and through the cap, and a destructible seal in the recess,substantially as set forth.

6. In a fare box and register, the combination of a fare receptacle, afare channel leading into said receptacle, an inner and an outer gate insaid fare channel, a register having a ratchet wheel upon its unitshaft, a lever connected to operate the inner gate and having a springfor returning it to its normal position and formed with a shoulderedincline, a pawl upon said lever and engaging the ratchet wheel upon theunit shaft of the register, a tumbler having a spring pawl riding uponthe shouldered incline of the inner gate operating lever, a leverconnected to operate the outer gate, and a thumb lever engaging androcking the tumbler and engaging one arm of the outer gate operatinglever, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing to be our invention we havehereunto set our hands this 21st day of April, A. D. 1894.

F. B. WVAGNER. E. L. KRAMER. Witnesses:

WM. SECHER, J. O. TURNER.

